Aln Knight Order Training (1)
"Of course you can! My Lucy is bringing friends to the estate — how could I possibly say no!"
Benedict's voice rang out the instant the words left my mouth.
Oh... I hadn't expected permission to come this easily.
Is it really fine for outsiders to join the knight order's training?
If our internal knowledge leaks out, won't that cause problems?
And also. Shouldn't you at least ask the knight order if it's even possible?
"Haha! What's there to worry about! Forsell will welcome them with open arms if they're Lucy's friends!"
That is still not an answer, you know.
Benedict. I don't think the head of a household is supposed to be this irresponsible.
"And Lucy. Even if another family stole our training methods, do you think they could actually copy them? Anyone capable of that wouldn't be anywhere else — they'd already be in our knight order."
His voice brimmed with pride in his knights, and I tilted my head.
Is the Aln Knight Order's training really that brutal?
I mean, sure, it's insanely hard, but by the time you're a knight, couldn't anyone handle it?
From what everyone tells me, even the current me is around Knight level — and I've been keeping up with what the knights do just fine.
...Young lady. That is very much a you thing.
'Really?'
Really. I can't speak for how knights train these days, but even judged by wartime standards, the Aln family's training is exceptionally extreme.
When he explained that an ordinary knight might collapse from exhaustion halfway through and die, I realized I'd been laboring under a colossal misunderstanding.
No, I was just planning to give my friends a lighthearted taste of hell-training over the break — I never intended to actually send them to hell.
"Hrk! My daughter, who was always alone, finally has friends!"
But there was no taking back words already spoken.
How could I tell the doting father currently weeping with joy over his daughter's newfound friendships that it was all a joke?
Hmm. Well, I don't really know, but Forsell will figure it out.
It's not like teaching others is new to him — surely he'll adjust things to match my friends' level?
If I may offer one piece of advice, you'd best prepare an apology gift for your friends in advance.
'...I'll think about it.'
*
"We get to train with the Aln Knight Order?! Truly?!"
Arthur shot up from his seat, eyes sparkling, lips stretched into a grin.
The loose, unrestrained smile — utterly failing to hide his excitement — made it clear that even the normally composed Arthur was, at the end of the day, nothing more than a boy in the throes of adolescence.
'Yes. I got permission.'
"I told you I'd prove it, you clueless Pitiful Prince. Sadly for you, it's true. Permission granted and everything."
"Thank you, truly! Lucy Aln! Good heavens — training with the Aln Knight Order!"
Unable to sit still, Arthur began pacing around the room to burn off his excitement, and Joy tilted her head at the sight.
"Is training with the Aln Knight Order really that big a deal?"
That was exactly what I wanted to ask.
Aln Knight Order training just means rolling until you drop dead — why is he so thrilled about it?
I genuinely don't understand.
"You're a mage, Joy, so of course you wouldn't understand! You have no idea what the Aln Knight Order means to those who walk the path of the sword!"
Arthur slammed a hand on the desk and, with a firm "pay attention," began spinning tale after tale.
They were stories of the great feats the Aln Knight Order had accomplished in ages past.
It began with the tale of Aln's founder, who conquered an A-rank dungeon alone and was granted a title for it, and ran all the way to the war decades ago, when the Aln forces single-handedly held the front line and turned the tide of the entire conflict.
Having poured it all out without a moment's pause, Arthur suddenly turned to me and raised his voice.
"Do you understand now, Lucy Aln?! The knight order you will one day lead carries a history this deep! Take pride in your name and carve out a new chapter of that history yourself!"
I felt like I'd seen this exact behavior from Arthur somewhere before.
Oh. Right.
An otaku.
Kids who were obsessed with idols, or anime, or whatever else — they all got like this.
So Arthur is a knight otaku.
...I knew he admired knights in the setting, but I never imagined that admiration had reached full-blown otaku heights.
Kind of a turn-off, honestly.
"What's with those faces?! A man admiring knights is perfectly natural!"
Um. Setting aside how you look, I'm a guy too, you know?
Sure, I think armored knights are cool too, but you take it way too far.
Normal people aren't this passionate.
"Listen! The reason I love knights is—"
"Your Highness. That's quite enough. The longer you talk, the more of a weirdo you sound."
When Joy cut in, gesturing at me with her eyes, Arthur cleared his throat and shut his mouth.
"Anyway, Lady Aln — what does knight order training actually look like? Broadly speaking?"
'You want to know?'
"What's this, Scatterbrained Lady? Curious, are we? Dying to hear about it?"
"I want to take part in any training I can do alongside you, my lady. So I'd like to know what's in store beforehand."
At Joy's words, I cast my mind back to my time with the Aln family.
Hmm. The training changed every single time, so it's hard to sum up precisely.
If I had to find a common thread...
'I'd say give up on sleeping?'
"First off, forget about sleep — it's easier that way. That idiot Forsell smells like a middle-aged man, but when it comes to training, he's downright sadistic."
"...Forget about sleeping?"
'Yes? Isn't that obvious?'
"Yeah. All those moronic knight trainings are like that, aren't they?"
The exasperated look Joy had aimed at Arthur just moments ago swung around to me.
Wait, what? Isn't that how it works for everyone?
Ever since I built up my stamina, that's how every single training session went?!
When I blinked back at her in confusion, Joy pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Haaah. Now I understand why the training Lady Aln proposes defies common sense. The entire Aln family is like this."
Then, fixing me with a weary stare, she went on.
"My lady. In ordinary knight orders, they don't teach you to conquer sleep — they teach you to sleep efficiently. Because humans, being human, cannot conquer sleep."
Excuse me?!
Seriously?!
You're telling me knights actually sleep during training?!
They don't just grind day and night for a week straight?!
"It's the same with our church's knight order, my lady. Giving up sleep does more harm than good."
"Same for us. You let people sleep."
"...The capital's knight order as well. Ever since that wretch Tabol threw his tantrum years ago and failed miserably, 'sleep cannot be conquered' has been settled doctrine."
House Patran might be an exception, but with the other three all testifying, there was no ambiguity about which side represented common sense.
Ordinary knight orders let their people sleep.
Isn't that obviously how it should be?
'How was I supposed to know that?!'
I just assumed all knights in fantasy worlds trained like that!
That's why I always thought knights were so amazing!
"Lady Aln? I understand this is startling, but could you walk us through the other parts as well?"
I was terrified of watching everything I'd believed to be common sense crumble into nonsense, but I couldn't ignore the stares of the other four, so in the end I had no choice but to relay, as best I could recall, everything the Aln family's trainings had in common.
"You march at the same pace as a horse?! For the entire duration of the march?!"
"Insane. That's not something a human being does."
"Sounds boring."
"...I'm sorry, my lady. Even I think that one's messed up."
We don't do THAT?! Mobility is a knight's lifeblood — that was the phrase Forsell never stopped repeating!
"You force potions down anyone who collapses from exhaustion and make them keep moving."
"Isn't that already torture at that point?"
"Still boring."
"...I'm sorry, my lady."
So that whole regimen — the one they forced through with 'crises don't wait for you to be ready' — wasn't normal?! I just assumed any knight would naturally do at least that much!
"Sparring with genuine intent to kill each other. That one might actually be fun."
"Boring! There's no way THAT is fun!"
"I'm finding the Aln Knight Order scarier by the second."
"...I'm sorry."
The way my friends' faces grew paler with every word out of my mouth told me exactly how abnormal the place I'd grown up in really was.
...Come to think of it, Grandpa did turn green whenever the Aln knights started training.
Not 'come to think of it' — he turned absolutely green. It made me question whether they were even the same species.
'Then you should have TOLD me it was weird ahead of time!'
I assumed all knights in this era trained that way. I spent ages sealed in that dungeon, you see.
While I busied myself correcting my own common sense, the four seated at the table were exchanging glances of a rather delicate nature.
"Now I understand why Lucy Aln is so strong. And why every last member of House Aln is extraordinary."
"I suppose drilling that kind of training over and over is how you forge a knight order that can handle any situation."
"I once heard rumors passed along by a holy knight, but reality outstrips the rumors."
Their words all differed, but the meaning underneath them was much the same.
"...Your Highness. Are you truly going to do this?"
"Why are you asking me first?"
"Because you were the one who got the most excited about this training, that's why!"
"That was before I knew the Aln Knight Order was run by these lunatics!"
Excuse me. Lunatics is a bit harsh, don't you think?
Sure, they're all a little eccentric, but they're good people, and fun to be around.
If they weren't, would they have bothered training alongside a weirdo like me?
"And what about you! Didn't you say you'd gladly join if it meant training alongside Lucy Aln!"
"That was before I knew what kind of training it was! No matter how you look at it, none of this is necessary for a mage!"
It is necessary for mages too, actually.
Mages don't get tired? Mages never face crises? They never have to claw for survival in extreme situations?
Knight order training is for everyone.
The one to cut through the pair's bickering was Frey, who had been resting her chin on her hand with an air of perfect indifference.
"Doesn't sound fun. But I'd probably get stronger. I'll do it."
"...You're serious?"
"You shouldn't do it, Prince. I'll crush you once I've gotten stronger and call you a loser."
The corner of Frey's mouth curled up as if she were already savoring the sight of her victory, and Arthur bit his lip hard.
"Damn it! Fine, I'll do it! I'll do it! No matter how brutal the training is, it won't actually kill me, right?!"
Oh, that part's fine. It really is hellishly hard, but it won't kill you. I've been through it more times than I can count — I'll personally guarantee it.
"Um. I'm, um, scheduled to study magic separately under my father, so..."
"And where exactly do you think you're running off to, Joy! The Third Prince commands it! You're joining too!"
"No thank you! I'm a mage, not a knight! So therefore—"
"Aww♡ And here I thought the ditz was my friend. Turns out she isn't?♡ Dumping me this easily♡ Total bummer♡ Oh well♡ Guess I'll go back to honorifics then♡"
"I'll do it! I want to do it, I swear I'll do it!"
Ha. Joy. Where exactly did you think you were running?
I've already got a special training plan drawn up just for you.
Now that you're in my grasp, you're never escaping.
"Haaaah. To think I'd walk into hell with my own two feet."
"If one can grow stronger by surviving hell, it's rather like a tale from myth."
"Why are we speaking in hypotheticals about dying?"
"If everything Lucy Aln says is true, dropping dead at any moment would hardly be a surprise, would it."
"...I hate that I can't argue with that."
"Might as well die doing something fun, at least."
While the three who'd decided to visit the Aln Knight Order grumbled on, I turned my gaze toward the one remaining person.
Phoebe. The girl who wanted to follow me anywhere I went met my eyes, bowed her head, and began fidgeting with her hands beneath the desk.
"I'm sorry, my lady. I don't think I'll be able to join."
"Phoebe! You're running away all by yourself?!"
"Saintess! That's so unfair!"
The Phoebe of any other day would have smiled through those two antics and let them slide.
But today was different.
Instead of brushing it off, Phoebe shot to her feet to fire back.
"Do you really think I want to be apart from my lady's side?! If it weren't for the Church's business, I'd—... ah."
Both hands flew up to clamp over her mouth, but the words had already escaped.